Swisscom sets up blockchain unit to develop apps in Switzerland

ZURICH (Reuters) – Swisscom <SCMN.S> is establishing a new blockchain unit to develop applications, including for possible solutions to enable off-exchange trading, the Swiss government-owned phone company said on Thursday.

Swisscom will hold a 70 percent stake in Swisscom Blockchain Ltd, with the remaining 30 percent held by its founding partners. Daniel Haudenschild is moving from EY to Swisscom to head the unit.

Blockchain technology maintains a record of transactions through a network of computers rather than one centralized authority, and was first conceived as a way to trade the digital currency bitcoin.